| Taurus Auto Pistols Take On Titanium | |
Available in five chamberings from .380 to .45 ACP, the new Taurus Millennium Titanium autoloaders are the first regular-production pistols ever to be offered with major titanium components.
Taurus International Firearms continues to hold its place at the head of the firearms industry in terms of materials and design innovation with the introduction of its comprehensive new series of Millennium Titanium compact pistols. Constructed with hammer-forged titanium slides and injection-molded polymer frames, these pocket-size, extremely lightweight, double-action-only (DAO) guns are the first regular-production autoloaders ever to be offered with major titanium components.
The new Millennium Titanium lineup includes five different chamberings in two slightly different basic configurations. The Model PT138T .380 ACP, the Model PT111T 9mm, the Model PT140T .40 S&W, and the Model PT157T .357 SIG are all the same size and polymer frame design. The Model PT145T .45 ACP is slightly larger in size (you have to put them side by side to notice) and features a different grip/magazine interface than the other chamberings. All models in the Millennium line feature 10-round magazine capacity—yes, even the big-bore .45 ACP—for full-civilian-legal-maximum 10+1 firepower across the board. And all these versions and chamberings are also being offered in conventional heavier weight blued- or stainless-steel slide construction as well (they have the same basic model-number designations minus the “T”).
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SPECS
Taurus Model PT145T Millennium Titanium .45 ACP DAO Auto Pistol |
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Distributor
.....Taurus International Firearms |
I have been extremely impressed with the basic design and configuration of the Taurus Millennium pistol series since I first handled one of the original-version steel-slide PT138 .380 models at the NRA Convention back in May 1998. Reviewing it for performance later that summer, I found that it included more features and more full-size operating characteristics than any other pocket-size auto in the marketplace. The added design refinements of the current Millennium generation, the expansion of the cartridge lineup to include the high-performance .357 SIG and big-bore .45 ACP, and Taurus’ sophisticated engineering mastery of titanium slide fabrication and function now take the Millennium series guns to an even higher level and define them as truly the state of the art in compact pistol design.
The Millennium concept was originally developed as a platform for the 9mm cartridge, which allows the basic form-factor to be readily adapted to the geometric requirements of the .380 ACP, .40 S&W, and .357 SIG without dimensional changes. Adding the .45 ACP necessitated some alteration in the molded frame dimensions to accommodate a new-design 10-round magazine (one of the company’s “no compromise” design requirements) and a slightly thicker slide.
The magazine/grip interface is the most visible difference between the .45 and the other chamberings. The oversize, nonremovable magazine baseplate of the PT145 .45 ACP conforms with the grip frame when in place and contains the compressed magazine spring and follower when fully loaded with 10 rounds. The magazine baseplates for the other chamberings are removable and allow easily switchable use either of an oversized and recurved version for enhanced grip control or a flat, flush-fit version for maximum concealability.
In
terms of the full-size, full-duty design characteristics of the whole Millennium
line, the most central feature is the use of a rugged recoil-operated action
instead of the simple blowback mechanisms found on many other pocket-size pistols.
The linkless barrel operates via a Browning-derived camlock ramp. There is a
full-length guide rod but no separate barrel/slide bushing. Instead, the muzzle
end of the barrel is “belled” with smaller diameter area immediately
behind to allow the breech to drop slightly during the unlock cycle without
binding. Barrel-to-slide fit is very solid when in battery, as evidenced by
the consistent accuracy and even pattern of group distribution of every Millennium
I’ve fired.
Dimensionally, the Millenniums are true subcompacts. With a six-inch overall length even the PT145T will fit within the palm of an average-size hand, making it one of the smallest handguns ever available in .45 ACP chambering. Empty weight of the PT145T is a mere 17.3 ounces. Barrel length is 3.125 inches, which offers a functional five-inch sight radius. The sights themselves are also above the pocket-pistol norm. The top of the slide has a wide, flat channel, holding a staked-in front semi-Patridge white-dot blade, and the rear sight is a screwed-on wedge-profile (Novak-shape), square-notch, white-dot type.
The Millennium action is striker-fired and operates in DAO mode. The pull on the review PT145 pistol was smooth and light, taking up at initially zero weight and stacking smoothly through .502 inch of travel to a 7.496-pound let off, according to my Dvorak Instruments computerized TriggerScan instruments. And, much to my applause, the Millennium action requires no preloading of the firing mechanism. In other words, the Millennium pistol does not require any rearward movement of the slide to preset the striker springs or sear (unlike many other manufacturers’ striker-fired DAO design). Thus all Millennium versions have “repeat strike” capability, allowing a second trigger pull against any misfire without having to manually cycle the slide to reset the trigger action.
Other
full-duty Millennium features we expect on larger scale autoloaders and seldom
see on pocket-size DAO pistols include a conventionally located slide lock lever,
easily thumb-reachable on the left side of the frame, which holds the slide
to the rear after the last round in a magazine is fired. The magazine release
button is positioned directly behind the trigger guard on the left side, Model
1911-style, and a push on the button drops the magazine free of the frame. The
magazines for all chamberings are steel, which eliminates full-load “bulge”
and cuts down on grip size. The molded polymer humpbacked grip frames are textured
and grooved for secure grasp (with slightly different patterns on the PT145
and the others) and tuck comfortably into the cup of the palm, and the textured
trigger guard is mildly hooked for two-hand shooting.
Disassembly
employs a simple takedown lever on the left side of the frame (again, a full-size
feature). Remove the magazine, clear the chamber, lock back the slide, rotate
and pluck free the takedown lever, and move the slide/barrel/recoil guide/ spring
assembly forward off the frame. It couldn’t be simpler.
On the side of safety, the Millenniums are equipped with a manual sear-block safety located on the left rear of the frame. Push it up for “Safe,” down for “Fire.” Manual safeties on hammerless DAO pocket pistols are rare, but in the absence of a “safety trigger” mechanism such as found on Glocks and S&W Sigmas, it’s not a bad hedge against accidental discharge from a dropped gun. Of course, the gun also has a self-engaging firing pin block that doesn’t release until or unless the trigger is pressed all the way to the rear. There have been cases with other makes and models of striker-fired DAO pistols being dropped just right onto a hard surface and the trigger inertia at impact being enough to move it back to fire the gun. This is unlikely in the extreme with a gun as lightweight as any of these new Millennium Titanium models, but for those who scoff at the need for safeties on DA guns of any type, I say use it or ignore it; it’s your choice. And to take the safety options even another step, Taurus has added a slide-mounted version of its key-operated Safety Lock to the Millennium series with a quarter-turn rotation that completely freezes the firing pin and deactivates the gun until unlocked. Tremendously superior to any form of removable trigger lock or other such device, the integrated Safety Lock fully answers all concerns presently at issue in the legislative and product-regulation world regarding safe firearms storage. With three separate and completely independent layers of safety—the safe-ready mechanism of a basic DAO mechanism, a manual safety lever, and an integrated key lock—the Millenniums are unique in the handgun world.
One feature I’m very glad the Millennium pistols do not have is a magazine disconnect (a device which renders the gun unable to fire with the magazine removed). If I ever lose or damage a magazine in a crisis situation, I still want to be able to fire my gun as long as I can get a round into the chamber—even by single-loading manually if I have to. And the Millenniums will accommodate that.
Surprisingly
Comfortable
All except one of the titanium-slide and other new-series Taurus Millennium
pistols Shooting Times was able to examine for this article were prototype samples
prepared for display at the 2000 SHOT Show and were not specced for regular-production
accuracy and performance standards. The exception was a Model PT157 .357 SIG,
which was a regular-production sample, so it was the only one I subjected to
a performance and accuracy review. The results of that sample gun’s firings
with six current varieties of premium-grade commercial .357 SIG ammunition loaded
with high-upset, defense and law enforcement bullet designs are listed in the
accompanying chart.
I’m
very fond of the .357 SIG cartridge, and it was surprisingly comfortable in
the small, lightweight Millennium, considering its .357 Magnum-equivalent power
rating. The low bore-axis positioning of the striker-fired mechanism relative
to the grasping hand combined with the Model 1911-like grip angle and palm-filling
shape make for a very quick, direct-back, quick-recovery recoil
cycle. You can double tap this little gun as quickly as any full-size DAO design.
And insofar as the weight issue concerning a titanium slide is concerned, I
can personally assure you that you are going to be very surprised by how the
Millennium Titanium guns feel overall. As with Taurus’ ultra-lightweight
Total Titanium revolvers, the intuitive expectation is for a gun that is light
to jump more in the hand. The counterintuitive reality, however, is that the
very lightness of weight that makes the gun begin to recoil more quickly also
makes it easier and quicker to stop. Most of the subjective recoil sensation
of an auto pistol comes when the slide reaches its rearmost travel and slams
to a stop, rocking the gun backward in your hand before returning forward. A
light titanium slide has much less mass compared to steel, thus less inertia
in motion, thus less of a “slam” at the rear.
The recoil springs used in Taurus Millennium Titanium pistols are the same standard strength as those used in Millennium steel-slide guns, and Taurus engineers observe that they will wear out no quicker than in steel guns because the more rapid initial compression of the quicker accelerating titanium slide is balanced out by its lighter weight in terms of the return push forward. The fact is a heavier steel-slide Millennium pistol seems to jar more in the hand than a lighter titanium-slide Millennium pistol when firing. You’ll just have to see for yourself.
As I said of the first generation of Millennium autoloaders, this is one of the few polymer-frame pocket-pistol designs I have yet encountered that is equipped with a feature set I would actually carry myself for protection of life and loved ones or that I could recommend with a clear conscience to anyone else. The new Millennium Titanium models only reinforce that view. I’ve been surprised over the last two years that the Taurus Millennium line has not taken off with more popularity, especially considering its extremely competitive pricing compared to other like-size and like-caliber guns with much lesser features. I suspect now that’s going to change in a hurry.
This article was originally published in Shooting Times magazine in April, 2000.
